The Obama administration has granted visas to two senior officials from Zimbabwe to attend a meeting of an international body charged with monitoring and preventing the sale of blood diamonds, despite human rights concerns and financial sanctions against the pair.

The first Canadian mid-market chief financial officer (CFO) survey published today by GE Capital, shows that local metals and mining companies are extremely positive about the current state of the industry, but less optimistic about the state of the world economy.

Metso has signed a contract with Codelco, Chile's State-owned mining company, to supply big cone crushers for a process improvement project in the Chuquicamata division. The contract also includes an automatic control system for crushers delivered by Metso.

China is looking to allocate a value-added tax (VAT) permit to all rare earth companies in a desperate effort to curb resource plundering, dangerous artisanal mining and widespread pollution, as well as collecting revenue.

In my email this past week was a missive from the news-editor of Mining.com. He passed on a letter sent to him for possible publication. I repeat the entire letter below. It has the edge I like. It has the honesty of an old man about to retire: I respect that. It has the frustration of change; and we all know the feeling.

Junior miner Matamec Explorations, currently developing the Kipawa rare earths project in western Quebec, Canada, said on Monday it had started a pilot plant to enable the continuous processing of ore samples.

The main source of silver to the Spanish crown during the 1500s, the Mexican state of Zacatecas is again enjoying the attention of foreign investors.

Australia’s Queensland government has snubbed a United Nations report demanding Australia act to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

It took six months to cut into shape and now it is on display today in the Tower of London to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, a fancy pink-brown colour 35.60 carat diamond.